Elsevier Gunner Goggles
What is it
An augmented reality book app that helps students study for their shelf exams (a series of exams that med students are required to take to receive their credential). It was Elsevier’s first foray into augmented reality space.
Context
Authors, Hao-Hua Wu and Leo Wang brought their prototype of Gunner Goggles to Elsevier. We both published the books the author wrote and built its accompanying app.
How it works
Gunner Goggles scans along the gutter searching for A.R. targets. The app then generates AR bookmarks.
Information is then saved to your library.
Process
I conducted user interviews with 6 medical students about their study habits.
I learned
Students study when they can. Usually after 12-hour rotations.
Each study for a few hours each night, or morning.
They usually study at home or in cafes.
Many have experience with in-depth anatomy apps from previous years of med school.
Landscape Analysis
I looked at a series of augmented apps for both entertainment and education.
I learned
A.R. apps should enhance the environment they interact with.
(All 3 apps did this well).Projected digital assets should be added and removed easily.
(Lego Technic did his exceptionally well, allowing a user to add and remove Lego sets easily).If educational, the A.R. elements should contribute to your learning.
(The Philadelphia museum of Art, and 3D 4Medical apps did this well).
App Audit & Analysis
There was a mix of good ideas, that were poorly executed. The library in particular, the link icon was dangerously close to the delete button. This means instead of going to a link, one could accidentally delete it.
Wireframes
Some early design decisions were made. The app would have three primary functions: scan, retrieve, and learn more. We also accounted for the inclusion of 3D models in the app.
Library
Scan
This feature is the core of the app. Users scan content in a book page, and that information is saved to their library.
3D Content
One of the key features of the app was to have annotated 3D anatomical models for students to explore
Guerilla Testing
We set up a booth at the American Medical Student Association conference in Washington D.C. and had students play around with an early prototype of Gunner Goggles.
Feedback
Students had trouble locating content in the library. They felt the list of links was too long and hard to navigate. Students were also confused by seeing the links that appeared on the page look different than the ones that appeared in their library.
Iteration: Library
I divided the library by chapter. Each chapter would show the number of scanned links. This allowed students to navigate to the content they wanted more quickly.
Addition of micro experiences
UI
As a guide, we used a simple design system, pulling from Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and their mobile design system, as Elsevier’s design system at the time was in its infancy.
Another business requirement was to provide ways for users to have a way to order the other books in the catalog, and their corresponding apps.
Outcomes
In December 2018, all seven versions of Gunner Goggles launched, both the books had low sales and the apps had download rates. That said, this was likely due to a lack of marketing support.
What I learned
How to lead a team
There was no product owner, just me and two engineers. I worked with the team to create tasks and groom stories.
How to design for augmented reality
More precisely, how to communicate 3D interactions to a team of novice engineers, so we could create an app, that created impact on students’ learning.
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